BEAVERTON, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Ethernet Alliance, a global consortium dedicated to the continued success and advancement of Ethernet technologies, today announced details of its technical demonstration for OFC 2016, the largest global conference and exhibition for optical communications and networking professionals. Slated for March 20 – 24, 2016 at the Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, Calif., the event is again playing host to the organization's multi-vendor demo in booth 3625 on the expo floor, highlighting the interoperability of Ethernet's diversifying range of speeds, including 10, 25, 40, and 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE). While at OFC 2016, the Ethernet Alliance is also hosting two expert panel sessions for conference attendees.

"Ethernet has this wonderful, malleable quality that allows it to effortlessly bridge the gap between legacy systems and emerging technologies. It's this inherent flexibility that allows you to bring all of these different tools together in the data center, run connections over either copper and optical, and easily integrate, manage, and test all of them," said David Rodgers, Ethernet Alliance OFC 2016 technical lead; and senior product marketing manager, Teledyne LeCroy Corporation. "That you can combine these diverse components into the network and have them successfully interoperate at increasingly higher rates of speed is critical on both the carrier rate side and the data center itself. Our OFC 2016 demo clearly shows why Ethernet remains the networking technology of choice."

The Ethernet Alliance's live multi-vendor interoperability demo incorporates a broad spectrum of copper and fiber technologies in a wide range of Ethernet speeds. Among the equipment being showcased are 10GbE, 25GbE, 40GbE, and 100GbE cabling and optical modules; 100GbE data center switches; NIC adapters; protocol analyzers; servers, switches, and management tools; and more. Also included are a simulation of a real-world data center environment, and a 400GbE demo station.

Member companies taking part in the Ethernet Alliance's demo are Amphenol Corporation (NYSE: APH); Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO); Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ: FNSR); Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR); Kaiam Corporation; Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX); Spirent Communications (LSE: SPT.L); Teledyne LeCroy, Inc.; and Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX).

"Ethernet is still the largest consumer of optics, delivering more than $1 billion in optics revenues to module vendors," said Scott Kipp, president; and director of engineering, Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. "This doesn't come as a surprise, given its growing array of speeds, and diversification into new markets and applications. Combined with its intrinsic interoperability and dependable performance, Ethernet represents today's most flexible, reliable, and cost-effective networking protocol, from the campus to the data center."

As part of its presence at OFC 2016, the Ethernet Alliance is also hosting the following panel sessions in Expo Theater II, Exhibit Hall B:

• The State of Ethernet Optics, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, 2:30pm PDT – Moderated by Mr. Kipp, panelists Chris Cole of Finisar Corporation, Mark Nowell of Cisco Systems, and Brad Smith of Mellanox Technologies will address recent Ethernet advancements, including its growing range of optics from 25GbE to 400GbE. The panel will also explore new developments in the dynamic Ethernet marketplace.
• Ethernet Fiber Optic Cabling Trends, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, 4:00pm PDT – Led by Doug Coleman of Corning, Inc., panelists Paul Kolesar of CommScope, Inc., Brett Lane of Panduit Corp., and Greg McSorley of Amphenol Corporation will discuss trends in Ethernet fiber optic cabling. Topics will include structured cabling with low-loss connectivity, 400GbE cabling, and optical module standards.

For more information about the Ethernet Alliance, please visit http://www.ethernetalliance.org, follow @EthernetAllianc on Twitter, visit its Facebook page, or join the EA LinkedIn group. Individuals who would like to receive updates on Ethernet Alliance, activities, and events may sign up for the organization's newsletter at www.ethernetalliance.org/newsletter.

About the Ethernet Alliance

The Ethernet Alliance is a global consortium that includes system and component vendors, industry experts, and university and government professionals who are committed to the continued success and expansion of Ethernet technology. The Ethernet Alliance takes Ethernet standards to market by supporting activities that span from incubation of new Ethernet technologies to interoperability demonstrations and education.

Additional Quotes:

"For the past seven years Amphenol has been part of the Ethernet Alliance live demo at the OFC exhibition and is once again proud to be involved in this year's events. The OFC conference and exhibition is one of the nation's premier optical events each year and the Ethernet Alliance booth is great place for designers and end users to get the latest information on the latest in GbE and see the latest products in live and static demos.

"Amphenol will be demonstrating our world class 10GbE SFP+, 40GbE QSFP+ and 100GbE interconnect systems. Amphenol will showcase our passive and active copper cables to our latest AOC's (Active Optical Cable assemblies) as well as our SFP+ and QSFP+ cages and connectors. We will also have latest 25Gb RCx passive TOR cable system available. In addition, we will be showcasing a new offering of High Density (HD) rack mount optical connectivity panels and trunk cable solutions designed to increase density to improve cable routing and tray congestion." – Greg McSorley, technical business development manager, Amphenol High-Speed Cables

"The new CFP8 form factor is an excellent choice for first-generation 400G Ethernet client ports in service provider applications, supporting the required increase in bandwidth density as well as both multimode and single mode standard interfaces." – Christian Urricariet, senior director of marketing, Finisar

"Data centers are pushing the boundaries of performance, cost, and volume for connectivity. Kaiam is pleased to participate in the Ethernet Alliance's interoperability demonstration at OFC 2016 with our industry-leading multi-wavelength 40G and 100G optical transceivers, optimized for speed, density, power consumption, and reliability in the data center." – Karen Liu, vice president of sales and marketing, Kaiam Corporation

"As a leading supplier of end-to-end Ethernet interconnect solutions, Mellanox is delighted to participate in the Ethernet Alliance OFC booth. We will be showcasing our 10G/25G and 40G/50G/100GbE Ethernet LinkX ^TM product line and participating in the live demo. This includes Direct Attach Copper cables, AOCs, multi-mode and Silicon Photonics single-mode transceivers.

"Come see our new 100GbE PSM4 transceivers, 32-port Spectrum switches and 100Gbe Network Adapters!" – Brad Smith, director of marketing, LinkX interconnects, Mellanox Technologies

"The increased bandwidth, density and scale required by cloud-based data center deployments has accelerated the pace of development and expanded the number of options of high speed Ethernet form factors and physical media interfaces. In this demonstration with the Ethernet Alliance, we are showcasing how Spirent's test solutions ensure 25, 40, 100, and 400 Gigabit Ethernet interoperability across the abundance of options available for Ethernet networks today. Spirent has the most flexible, highest density and highest performing test modules to ensure network interoperability, performance and availability." – Abhitesh Kastuar, general manager, cloud & IP business unit, Spirent

"Xilinx is pleased to be part of this group of top vendors and contribute to the Ethernet Alliance interoperability demonstration with our Virtex UltraScale VU190 device with pre-standard 400GE MAC and PCS IP, integrated with the new CFP8 optical module format. This demonstrates an emerging 400GbE standard which will enable numerous applications such as next generation switch and router high density line cards with newer optical modules, and high-end OTN transponders for more efficient optical infrastructure networks." – Gilles Garcia, director of wired communications, Xilinx

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